Where did the Jesus myth come from?

[greneknight]

As a fundamentalist of the US kind...

Thanks.

...you obviously don't accept the claims of RC miracles such as the sightings of the Virgin Mary.

Why on earth would you assume that?

If someone claims they saw something, I dont automatically dismiss them as a liar or lunatic.

That type of instant automatic dismissal would put me in the very same camp as the (atheist) people who assert - without warrant - that testimony about Jesus is, and can only be, lies and/or lunacy.

...But if you check the newspapers a long time ago, there were reportedly tens of thousands of RCs who claim to have seen the sighting of Mary in Fatima, Portugal just as the three young village kids said they would.

Newspapers? Really? You mean even the newspaper reporters were helping perpetuate a lie?

As a clear thinker, I'd prefer to read the newspaper for MYSELF and make up MY OWN mind, rather than have you explaining it to me.
Because thats what you're trying to do.

...Superstitious people will claim to have seen all kinds of rubbish.

How about instead of calling them superstitious and calling what they say rubbish, you make an effort to debunk it if you really do think it can be refuted. Or is that too much work for you?

...What happened 2000 years ago is worse. There were more superstitious people in those days....

Why pick that single point in time? In what year did history start becoming accurate? Archaeology is corroborating stuff in the bible. Do we reject that? Computer textual analysis of Gospel accounts (place name details, personal name frequency, Jewish cultural practices, etc.) shows that it is extraordinarily unlikely they were fabricated by someone living >70 years later outside the country where the (Jewish) events took place.

... From the report of St Matthew's gospel, they even claimed that upon Jesus' death, MANY people were raised from the dead and they went to town and were seen by a huge number of people.

I know what's in the bible. It's OK. You dont have to tell me what it says.

...But nobody believes that sort of rubbish these days.

Believes what? Earthquakes? Lightning? Solar eclipses? Whats hard to believe about those?
Seeing ghosts? Are you claiming nobody believes in ghosts these days?
Have you seen what sort of gothic/horror movies kids are flocking to see these days? The non-theist, rational enlightenment? Yeah RIGHT!!!!
The occult, the paranormal, hobbits, wizards, time travel, extra-terrestrial realms of existence - it's more popular than EVER!

...Even the fundiest fundamentalist from the Cathedral of St Fundy of Fundyland can't possibly believe that part of St Matthew was true and actually happened.

There's an Anglican (Church of England) guy on rationalskepticism.org named ''Jerome'' you might want to go and debunk, who is currently in a formal debate arguing in favour of the existence of ghosts. (discarnate consciousness)

Now, what were you saying about extreme fundies?

We have a few madmen in our church but in the Cathedral of St Fundy of Fundyland, your Archbishop of Fundy Diocese and EVERYONE in the church are raving lunatics. That's the difference. President Obama should arrest half of America and lock them up in lunatic hospitals. It's easy to identify them. Take a survey. Anyone who believes the world is 10,000 years old or some ridiculously young age for the earth must be certified a lunatic worthy of a lifetime of hospitalization. You guys should put them on display in a "zoo" so tourists like me can visit them and throw nuts at them to feed them.